Free day at Yosemite, other national parks on Jan. 21

Admission fees to national parks will be waived on Jan. 21, the first of the park service's free-entrance days for 2013.

Jan. 21 is a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and many schools are closed.

The free day covers the 398 properties of the National Park Service, including not only the 59 national parks but also national monuments, preserves and historic sites.

In the Bay Area, many NPS properties don't charge an entrance fee. Among those that will be waived Monday are $7 per adult at Muir Woods National Monument.

At Yosemite, the fee waiver will save visitors $20 per car. Yosemite "has experienced a spectacular winter," the park's press office says; it also warns visitors to be aware that snow and ice may necessitate chain restrictions within the park.

This year's other free parks days are April 22-26; Aug. 25; Sept. 28; and Nov. 9-11.